The publication of Prince Harry’s memoirs arouses little enthusiasm among Quebecers, according to booksellers consulted by The newspaper.
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Unlike in the UK, where readers eager for juicy royal family revelations were able to buy the book from midnight Monday night, there was no rush to bookstores back home when the first copies of Substitute have been put up for sale.
“It does not react very strongly,” confirms the director of communications for the Renaud-Bray chain, Floriane Claveau.
Low enthusiasm
“We had a few reservations before the release of the title, but not a lot. There are other biographies that have had a lot more than that,” she says.
The finding is the same at two bookstores in Quebec, where we did not see an out-of-the-ordinary eagerness from customers.
We had planned the coup. At Pantoute as at Laliberté, the inventories are the same as for any other release of a biography of a public figure.
“Not Harry Potter”
“As one of my colleagues said, Prince Harry is not Harry Potter,” laughs the communications manager of the Pantoute bookstore, Benoît Vanbeselaere.
Like Christian Laliberté, owner of the bookstore of the same name, he nevertheless believes that media interest could pique the curiosity of Quebecers.
At Hachette Canada, we didn’t take any risks.
The circulation for Quebec and French-speaking Canada is 10,000 copies, which represents a large marketing, according to the press service representative, Fabienne Corriveau.